Edwy the Fair or the First Chronicle of Aescendune eBook

It was seldom that the old thane expressed his devotion
in this strain; it seemed to Alfred as if there were
a foreboding of coming trial in it, and he felt as
when a cloud veils the face of the sun in early spring.

The messenger now came in sight—­a tall,
resolute looking man, well armed and well mounted,
and evidently bound for the hall. But when he
saw the party beneath the trees he bent his course
aside, and saluting the thane with all deference,
inquired if he spoke to Ella of Aescendune.

“I am he,” replied Ella. “I
trust you are not the bearer of other than good tidings;
but will you first refresh yourself, since it is ill
talking between the full and the fasting?”

“With gladness do I accept your bounty; for
I have ridden since early dawn, and rider and horse
are both exhausted.”

“There is corn for your horse, and food and
wine for his master.

“Uhred, take charge of the steed.

“Alfred, my son, place that best joint of beef
before the stranger, and those wheaten cakes.

“I drink to you, fair sir.”

The messenger seemed in no hurry to open his tale
until he had eaten and drunk, and it was with the
greatest patience that the thane, who was one of nature’s
gentlemen, awaited his leisure.

At length the messenger looked up, and pushed his
wooden platter aside.

“I have come to be the bearer of good tidings
to you, noble thane. Edwy, your king, with a
small troop of horse, his royal retinue, proposes
honouring your roof with his presence, and asks bed
and board of his loyal subject, Ella of Aescendune.”

“The king’s will is my law; and since
it pleases the son of my late beloved master, King
Edmund, to visit me, he shall find no lack of hospitality.
But may I ask what sudden event has brought him into
the heart of our country?”

“He comes to chastise rebellion. A large
force of several thousand men crosses the river a
few miles higher this evening, and, not to incommode
you with numbers, King Edwy comes apart from his followers.”

Although he foresaw grave inconvenience, and even
danger, in the proposal, yet Ella could not appear
churlish and inhospitable; therefore, learning from
the messenger that the king might be expected before
sunset, he returned home to make such preparations
as should suggest themselves for the entertainment
of his royal master, for so he still would have styled
Edwy, deeply as he felt he had been wronged by him.

“Father,” said Alfred, as he walked homeward
by his side, “think you Elfric will be in his
train? I wish he may be.”

“Alas, my son! I fear I shall never see
poor Elfric again. My mind always seems to misgive
me when I think of him; and I have so strong a foreboding
that he has received my last blessing, that I cannot
overcome it. No, Alfred, I fear we shall not
see Elfric tonight.”

No more was said upon the subject; they reached the
hall in good time, and startled the lady Edith by
their tidings.